


10 Months, 2 Weeks, 4 Days, 6 Hours and 31 Minutes

by Arribean



Series: Our Eternal Love [1]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Before death of loved-one, F/M, Getting Over Loved-Ones Death, M/M, Ternimal Cancer of Unnamed knid, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-01-06 23:45:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1112924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arribean/pseuds/Arribean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been ten months, two weeks, four days, six hours and thirty-one minutes since the unthinkable happened. Today would be the first Valentine’s Day he faced without him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first story to my Our Eternal Love series. I have at least 4, which would go in reverse chronological order. Depending on how this one goes I might post the others. This was all inspired by something I came across while staring mindlessly at the screen. Unfortunately I have lost the site it was on.

It had been ten months, two weeks, four days, six hours and thirty-one minutes since the unthinkable happened. Today would be the first Valentine’s Day he faced without him. Valentine’s Day had always been special for them, they had been the type of couple to take the day off and spend it with one another. Though Jack never mentioned it, Valentine's Day had been one of his favorite holidays and he always made sure to show Aster his love that day. The last Valentine’s Day they celebrated had been in the hospital with him fading more and more every day.

He swallows hard, fighting against the sorrow that was threatening to boil over. He puts his watch down, trying to stop counting the minutes, seconds of his heart’s death. He turns in bed, facing the spot where Jack had slept for many years. Some nights he would wake up, expecting Jack to be there, but cold sheets were the only thing that ever greeted him. He knew he had to get up and start his day. He was expecting company later today, who would be doing their daily check-up on him. He groans, getting out of bed to greet the dull world once more. It had never been like that when Jack was alive, he brought color and joy into Aster’s world, but that once bright, joyous flame had been extinguished.

He yawns, running his hands through his long hair. He grimaces when he feels the knots, having forgotten to brush it the night before. He grabs a rubber band and ties back his hair, feeling around for his glasses. Years of drawing had made his vision bad to the point he basically had to wear them all the time. As with every day of Jack's passing, he opens his drawer, staring at the pieces of paper within. Before Jack died, he had written a letter to Aster then had it cut up and hidden around the house. Every morning he wanted to read the little pieces, but he wouldn't until he had found the whole letter. He closes the drawer, running his hand over it, debating to look once more, but decides against it, pushing himself up from bed and putting on a shirt to start his morning routine. The books he read had said that a good way to get over depression was to keep a routine and he was doing his best to stay at it. He had promised Jack that he wouldn’t do anything stupid and he intended to keep that promise. No matter how hard it was to go on some days.

After his morning workout and watching the news, he starts on his breakfast. At one time the kitchen had been stocked full with healthy food. But now, as a lonely bachelor once more, his old unhealthy habits had come back. During his breakfast of a poptart and cookie, a knock on the door sounds throughout the house making him pause. He had not thought his friends would come here so soon. He had hoped he would have enough of a chance to clean up and not have them fuss over him. He sighs, heading to the door and opening it. The last thing he expected to see that day was a florist delivering flowers. His heart stops when he sees the vase of flowers in the florist’s hands. The bouquet looked like something Jack had always gotten him since there was one aster in the middle of the bouquet.

“Are you Aster Bunnymund?”

Aster could not speak, so all he does it nod. The florist hands them over to him and bids him a good day. Aster heads back in the house, the vase clenched in his hands. He places it on the table, reaching for the note attached. He throws down the note attached when he sees it was from Jack. It was impossible. They had to make a mistake. Someone had to be playing a cruel trick on him.

He rushes to the phone, angrily flipping the pages of a phone book to find the florist's number. He couldn't help his raised voice as a woman answers. Someone had thought it funny to play a trick on him and he was not going to take it. The woman took no offense to his angry tone and tells him, “There is no mistake sir, before he passed he came in last year and prepaid for several bouquets, with specific instruction to make sure you had them delivered every Valentine’s Day."

Aster hangs up the phone and heads back to the flowers, gently caressing the aster in the bouquet and grabs the note. When he gathers enough courage, he flips the card over, reading what had been written. On the card it read, ‘My love for you is eternal’ clearly written in Jack’s own crappy handwriting. Aster chuckles, tears falling from his face. He should have expected something like this from Jack. Jack had always said that Aster should never really expect him to be truly gone. He holds the card close to him, a smile appearing on his face for the first time since Jack’s death. Though Jack was gone, Aster could feel his presence there with him.

The world didn't seem as dull as it had been this morning.


	2. Buying Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prequel of last chapter, still going in reverse with the others which will be after this chapter. This particular involves exactly what the title says.
> 
> More from the series to come, if I can stop thinking about too many of them and just get around to posting them.

The door to the flower shop rings, signaling the entrance of new customers. As the owner got to the front to check on them, he saw an incredibly large man pushing the wheelchair of a much smaller man, almost a child.

“North, you can park me here, thank you,” The smaller of the two states. “Hey, my name is Jack Overland and I was wondering your policy about reservations for bouquets.”

“How long were you looking to reserve it for?”

“Twenty-five years. Look, before you say anything I just want to explain to you why I want to do this. You are the third flower shop we have come across today and I need to get this done before I have to get back to the hospital.” The owner sees the hospital bracelet on the young man’s wrist, making him wonder what he was in the hospital for. “I am willing to pay upfront for all of them. I would want them to be delivered on Valentine’s Day. That is our day… but unfortunately it seems I will not make it to see the next one. So please, let me have something special that I can leave for the love of my life.”

The owner looks over the young man, realizing that he wasn’t just small for small sakes, but that he looked like he was wasting away. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Terminal cancer… from how fast my health has deteriorated over the last few weeks, I will probably not make it to the end of the month.” He stops talking as a coughing spell comes over him. The large and imposing man kneels beside him, putting a mask, which the owner believed to be oxygen, over his face. It takes a few moments, but he stops coughing, reaching a hand out to hold onto the mask. “Thanks Nick.” His voice was a little muffled but it was not bad enough that the owner could not hear the young man. “Would you be willing to or do I need to go somewhere else?”

“What are you looking for?”

“Twenty-five flowers, twenty-four of them being red roses and then one aster in the center. The aster is the most important thing and it has to be in the middle. It’s his favorite flower.”

“You want them to be delivered on Valentine’s day?”

“Yes, I know you would probably have a lot to do on that day, but Valentine’s was always something special for us. We would make sure it would just be us the whole day. He won’t have me for the next one. I want him to know that even though I’m gone, I am still always there for him. So I have written all these little cards to go with the flowers. There are twenty-five of them. Would you be willing to?”

The owner nods, having known what it was like to lose someone close to you through cancer. His wife had tried to do something similar before she was taken from him and he would do anything to help someone who was trying to ease their loved ones pain even before their departure. “I lost my wife to cancer. I will do anything in my power to help your loved one out during the most difficult times.” The owner could see that the young man must have been a lot like her because he felt the same energy around him as he had once felt with his wife.

Jack smiles. “Thank you. I didn’t really know what to do if I couldn’t find someone.”

“Now how about you,” the owner says, pointing to the large man, “come back later after you take him back to the hospital to finalize things. I will take these little cards from you and put it in my safe. The two of us will work out a deal that’s good for you. Sounds like a plan?”

“Thank you,” Jack says, shaking the man’s hand. The owner didn’t feel much strength left in the grip and knew that this trip had probably taken more out of him than he had left to give.

“Come on Jack, let’s get you back. No doubt Aster is running around like crazy wondering where you have been.”

The man laughs. “We are so going to get our asses chewed out when we get back. North, be sure to stand in front of me and be my human meat shield.”

The owner watches the two of them leave. Seeing the young man in that condition had brought back memories of when his wife had been in the same predicament. Both of them too young to die. The owner had a feeling that the young man had been just as bright as his wife, able to brighten anyone’s day with a smile. It was truly sad that those who were bright like that seemed to burn out too quickly.

It makes the owner think of a quote he had once read, ‘That what burns twice as bright, burns half as long’ and he had never truly thought about it in terms of people before… but he had seen one bright light burn out and it looks like another one was going to join.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me if you like it.


End file.
